Behind a balanced, mostly efficient scoring attack and a stifling perimeter defense, the No. 3-seeded Bulls (23-10) led wire to wire Wednesday night in a 69-62 triumph against Rice in the American Athletic Conference Tournament final in Fort Worth, Texas. USF is headed to the NCAA tourney for the 10th time and fourth in the past five seasons.

USF is the ninth seed and will face the eighth-seed Wichita State. The Bulls and Shockers split the regular season series, with each team winning on the road.

Vittoria Blasigh scored 20 points, Carla Brito added 17 and No. 3-seed South Florida defeated Rice 69-62 on Wednesday night to win the American Athletic Conference championship. The Bulls will return to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence.

An outspoken opponent of March Madness selection criteria, USF coach Jose Fernandez has openly bemoaned the advanced metrics steeped in NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings that seem to marginalize his team’s daunting non-conference schedule.